A very less-known but far-reaching office within the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security has removed protections for LGBTQ+ individuals from a policy that has restricted intelligence gathering on certain groups. This is followed by an executive order from President Donald Trump to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), is one of the 18 organizations that comprise the intelligence community, now overseen by the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. She reportedly has been facing longstanding allegations of civil liberties and civil rights abuses.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has recently stripped off the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” from a policy manual “that set guardrails on gathering intelligence,” which was first reported by the Bloomberg Government. “I&A’s work has attracted close scrutiny for years because of its domestic focus, with intelligence often involving US citizens and others in the country.”
I’m sure I’ll end up on some government list. This is alarming because DHS can now spy on LGBTQ folks for no good reason. pic.twitter.com/7hDypt5pKu
— The Pissed Off Lawyer (@legaltweetz) February 26, 2025
As per The Advocate, an archived version of the text previously published:
“OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information, and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
The words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” have since been removed. Within the DHS domain, the office states on its homepage, “The Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) is a unique member of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC).” It also says, “I&A is the only IC element statutorily charged with delivering intelligence to our State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT) and private sector partners, and developing intelligence from those partners for the Department and the IC.”
“I&A specializes in sharing unique intelligence and analysis with operators and decision-makers to identify and mitigate threats to the homeland,” it continues. “I&A’s main focus is to provide the Department with the intelligence and information it needs to keep the Homeland safe, secure, and resilient.”
In Jan 2024, Just Security, which is a nonpartisan, independent law and policy journal and led by co-editor-in-chief Ryan Goodman, reported that DHS’s office of I&A “has for years engaged in abusive domestic intelligence practices targeting Americans’ political views and broadly painting certain groups of Americans as terrorists.”
Spencer Reynold of Just Security wrote, “Since at least 2016, I&A officers have conducted interviews with people held in jails without sufficient constitutional protections, targeted journalists and activists protesting local monuments under the guise of homeland security, surveilled racial justice demonstrators, and monitored political views shared by millions of Americans — about topics like abortion, government, and elections — that DHS baldly asserts will lead to violence.”
THIS IS WHAT TRUMP IS SHUTTING DOWN.
USAID announced big LBGTQI+ initiative in 2023. (The + is for aberrations yet to be discovered.)
Announcement is by Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator (he/him) Jay Gilliam. pic.twitter.com/tJhltxWKYQ
— Jared Taylor (@RealJarTaylor) February 3, 2025
It is even alleged that “I&A too often disseminates questionable intelligence to thousands of officials nationwide. This pattern of abuse continues today: I&A is currently engaged in an intelligence campaign that has empowered Georgia authorities to weaponize state terrorism and racketeering charges in a crackdown against activists protesting a police training facility in Atlanta.”
Spencer Reynolds has an extensive background in law and intelligence, that includes serving as a senior intelligence counsel in the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “where he advised on operations and policy related to domestic intelligence, counterterrorism, social media monitoring, and other national security matters,” as per his bio.
As noted by The Advocate, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem “has a history of targeting LGBTQ+ rights, including by signing executive orders banning transgender athletes from participating on teams that align with their identities and banning gender-affirming care for youth.”
